Winding-drum actuating and controlling mechanism



June 5, 1928. 1,672,178

F. J. SHEPARD, JR., ET AL WINDING DRUM ACTUATING AND CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 8, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.1.

l nTo r Frederick d.shepqrd 7' Nathaniel Wow-shew June 5, 1928. r 1,672,178

F. J. SHEPARD, JR., ET AL WINDING DRUM ACTUATING AND CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 8, 1926 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnv e nTors.

F'rede r'lcK dshepard Jr.

Nmhuniel Warshaw June 5, 1928. 1,672,178

F. J. SHEPARD, JR., ET AL WINDING DRUM ACTUATING AND CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 8, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 lnvenTor:

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Patented June 5, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK J. SHEPARD, TIL,

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ,ASSIGNORS TO AUBUBNDALE, AND NATHANIEL WABSHAW, OI

LEWIS-SHEPARD COMPANY, OF WATER- TOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Application filed February This invention relates to winding drum actuating and controlling mechanisms of the wiudlass type and the general objects of the invention are to provide a. novel driving mechanism for the winding drum and a novel controlling mechanism for permitting unwinding of the drum. More specifically one of the objects of the invention is to provide the driving mechanism with a silent frictional clutch braking device which will permit. free rotation of the driving shaft during the winding operation, but will operate immediately upon stoppage of the winding operation to prevent reverse rotation of the driving shaft. 4

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel braking mechanism which will be continuously under the control of the operator and which will automatically apply the brake whenever pressure by the operator upon the brake-releasing mechanism is removed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple construction of the above type which may be applied to usual forms of brake mechanisms.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following de cription and the accompanying drawings. and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated herein as applied to a hoisting or tiering machine.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hoisting or tiering machine containing a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail front elevation viewed from the left toward the rightof the driving and braking mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail side elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2, part of the mechanism being illustrated in vertical section; and,

Fig. 4 is a deta1l elevation of a preferred form of crank having suitable sockets to engage respectively the driving shaft and the brake releasing mechanism.

The tiering machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings is of the portable,

8, 1926. Serial No. 86,820.

manually operated, type comprising a base frame 1, formed of structural steel, having rear wheels 2 and front legs '3. The 65 front end of the tiering mechanism may be provided with any suitable wheel-supporting means for lifting the front legs from the floor to enable it to be transported from one place to another, such, for example, as illustrated in Patent No. 1,542,067 granted to Lewis-Shepard Company as assignee of Ralph M. Lovejoy June 16, 1925.

Standards 4, preferably of channel iron, are secured to the base frame 1 and extend upwardly therefrom, and are connected together at their top by a cross plate or girder 5. A supplemental frame comprising uprights 6 and 7 and upper and lower girders 8 and 9 is detachably bolted to and extends upwardly from the base frame 1 and is also secured to the uprights by a transverse bracket or angle iron 10. The supplement-a1 frame provides suitable support for the winding and braking mechanism. The load supporting means comprises a platform, which may be of any suitable type, but desirably is in the form of an L-shaped frame. the platform 11 of which is horizontal and desirably comprises girders of structural steel, such as angle irons or channel bars. with anti-friction rolls 12 engaging the rear faces of the uprights, while the other member 13 of the L-shaped frame, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, extends in parallelism with the vertical uprights and is provided with anti-friction rolls 14 which engage the inner faces of the flanges 15 of the vertical uprights. The load supporting means is raised by means of a cable 16 which is secured at one end to the vertical member of the L-shaped load supporting means and runs over a sheave 17 mounted in a suitable frame 18 which is mounted in the upper portion of the standards between a transverse girder 19 and a bracket 20 secured to the transverse top plate 5. The other end of the cable 16 is secured to and wound up upon a winding drum which is operated in a manner hereinafter more fully described.

The vertical standards 4 desirably are made in pivotally connected sections in such a manner as to permit the sections either to be locked in alinement er folded down so that the vertical height of the tiering machine may be diminished to permit the, machine to pass readily through doors, undcr scaffolding. etc. As illustrated herein the adjacent ends of the upper and lower sections are secured to brackets 2t and 22 which extend laterally therefrom and which are pivotally connected by a transverse rod or shaft 23 forming a pivot about which the. upper section is swung down. The bracket 22 is provided with a laterally projecting lug 24 upon which a strap in the. form of a loop 25 is mounted. the upper end of which is adapted. when in locking position, to overlie :1 lug 26 projecting from the lower face of the upper bracket 21. The horizontal portion of the strap 25 is provided with a Set screw 27 which may be screwed down to clamp the parts rigidly in locked position, or upon being unscrewed to permit the strap to be swung about its pivot out of engagement with. the lug 26.

A pair of like brackets also pivoted upon the rod 23 extend laterally from the opposite vertical standard scctifins and are provided with a similar locking device with the exception that the strap, instead of being pivoted to the lower bracket. is pivoted to the upper bracket with the co-operating lug extending from the lower bracket. This connection, however. forms the subject matter of another application and is not, therefore, claimed herein.

One of the principal features of the invention relates to improvements in the mechanism for actuating the winding drum. This mechanism comprises a driving shaft 28 of relativel large diameter which is journalled in suitable bearing brackets 29 and 30 secured respectively to the uprights 6 and 7 of the supplemental frame. The shaft 28 is provided intermediate of its bearings and near the end bearing 30 with a slightly enlarged grooved section 31 which may be milled. but preferably is. swaged to provide teeth 32 adapted to mesh with teeth 33 upon a gear 34 which is fixed upon a shaft 35 journallcd in suitable bearings 36 and 37 in the uprights 6 and 7 of the supplemental frame. A winding drum 38 is rigidly secured to the shaft 35 or to the gear 34, or both, so that the rotation of the gear 34 will cause the rotation upon the winding drum.

The driving shaft 28 may be rotated in any suitable manner. As illustrated herein it is provided with a non-cireular, preferably hexagonal end 39 adapted to be engaged by a suitable crank 40. It may, however, be actuated by an electric motor oi" other power transmitting device which-can be readily arrested. By reason of this construction a very efficient. and powerful Windlass is providcd. as the geared portion 31 of the shaft is of relatively small diameter with respect to the diameter of the gear 34. Furthermore, the gear formed by thus grooving or swaging the portion of the steel shaft it self is much more rugged than any construction which could be made to provide a similar gear ratio if spur or bevel gears of a usual type'were employed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel mechanism which will permit a free rotation of the driving shaft in the winding-up direction and which will instantly prevent retrograde or reverse or unwinding rotation of the driving shaft, and a still further object of the invention is to provide a novel braking mechanism for controlling the unwinding rotation of the driving shaft to permit the lowering of the load by gravity.

In the preferred construction illustrated herein a clutch member, preferably but not necessarily in the form of a drum. is rotatably mounted upon the driving shaft. The particular form of device illustrated herein comprises a hub .41 which is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 28 with its end abutting against a shoulder 42 which defines the end of the enlarged toothed portion of the driving shaft. An integral circular head 43 extends vertically from the hub 41, and has at its periphery a laterally extending annular flange 44 forming a brake drum, the outer periphery of which is engaged by a clutch st rap or straps in the manner hereinafter describei'l and the inner face of which is adapted to be engaged or disengaged by brake shoes which are cormected to and operated by the rotation of the driving shaft .28.

In the particular construction illustrated the brake is formed of two semi-cylindrical brake bands 4-5 and 46 having respectively brackets -47 and -48 at their upper ends which are. spaced apart and are slidably mounted upon a bolt 49. A helical spring 50, interposed between the brackets 47 and 48, tends normally to separate the brackets. The length of the bolt. however, can be adjusted to determine the tightness of the brake band upon the brake.

The. brake bands 45 and 46 may be provided. with usual frictional brake drum engaging members. The opposite ends of the brake bands 45 and 46 are provided with novel means for applying or releasing the brake as will hereinafter be more fully de scribed.

The clutch members which co-operate with the brake drum as illustrated comprises a plurality, preferably three clutch shoes 51. 52 and 53 which are connected by suitable pivotal joints 54 and 55. The adjacent ends of the shoes 51 and 53 are pivotally connected respectively to the links 56 and 57 of a toggle, the pivotal joint 58 of the toggle links being connected to one end of a link 59 connected by a pin which link is pivotally 60 to arms 61' extending from a collar 62 which is fixedly secured to the shaft 28 by a transverse pin 63, or other suitable rigid connection, so that the arms 61 are in fact rigid extensions 28. The collar 62 desirably is in the form of the opposite end of a hub of a length equal to the distance between thehub 41 of the drum and the journal 29 of the shaft so that when the parts are assembled there can be no axial movement of the clutch shoes relatively to the drum.

By reason of the construction thus described it will be obvious that when the driving shaft 28 is rotated in the usual clock-wise direction to wind up the cable upon the drum the arms 61 will be moved in a clockwise direction and will draw upon the joint 58 of the toggle links sufiiciently to release the clutch shoes 51, 52 and 53 from effective engagement with the inner face of the brake drum. Thus the shaft will be free to rotate in its winding-up movement.

In order to insure proper rotation of the clutch shoes 51, 52 and 53 with the driving shaft 28 after the shoes have been released from engagement with the drum, the pin 63 may be extended from the shaft 28 a sufficient distance to engage a lug 63 upon the brake shoe 52 as soon as the toggle links 56 and 57 have been drawn inwardly sufiiciently to free the clutch shoes from effective ongagement with the drum. The engagement, therefore, of the pin 63 with the lug 63- will cause a positive rotation of the clutch shoes '51, 52 and 53 with the driving shaft in its clock-wise rotation during such rotation in a clockwise direction, one or more of the clutch shoes lightly engages the brake drum. However, upon slight reverse rotation of the driving shaftor unwinding moyement thereof-the arms 61 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, and in co-operation with the frictional engagement between the clutch shoe and the drum will cause the link 59 to straightenthe toggle links 56 and 57 thereby expanding the clutch members 51, 52 and 53 and forcing'these clutch shoes into engagpment with the drum throughout their perip ery with progressively increasing pressure as the toggle links approach alignment.

By reason of the large area of contact between the clutch shoes 51, 52 and 53 and the inner face of the drum 44 a powerful clutchin action is provided, which is distributed su stantially throughout the entire periphery of the drum and a very effective clutching engagement bet-ween the drum and such members insured. In the operation of the machine, therefore, the winding up rotation of the driving shaft is free and if the brake is applied to the outer face of the drum a reverse or unwinding movement of the drivmomentum upon stop frOm' the shaft ing shaft will be immediately prevented be-' fore the load has any opportunity to gain age of the winding movement of the cran or' other actuating mechanism. i

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved brake controlling mechanism. In the preferred' embodiment of the invention illustrated herein the lower end of the brake band 45 is pivotally connected to a stud 64 extending through I the bifurcated arm 65 of a bell crank lever which is pivotally mounted upon a stud 66 which is mounted in the bracket 36 upon the supplemental frame. The other arm 67 of the bell crank lever is likewise bifurcated and provided with a transverse rod or shaft 68 which is engaged by the slotted end 69 of a lever 70iwhich is secured to a stud or shaft 71 journalled in the bracket 36 of the suplemental frame. An arm 72, which may nected by a rod or shaft 73 to the lower end of the brake band 46. By reason of this construction an upward movement of the outer or left end of the lever 70, as seen in Fig. 2, will cause the arm 72 to draw the brake band 46 against the drum and the same movement of the lever, acting'through its opposite end, will depress the arm 67 of the companion bell crank lever, thereby causing its arm 65 to draw the lower end of the brake band 45 toward the drum so that both brake bands will be effectively applied to the drum. The releasing or reverse movement of the outer end of the lever ,70 will move the lever arms 72 and 65 in the opposite directions and thereby release the brake band from effective engagement with the drum.

The outer end of the lever 70 desirably is provided with-a spheroidal head 74 which may be bifurcated or rovided with a vertical slot 75 to receive t 1e upper portion of a vertical guide rod 76, the lower end portion of which is slidably mounted in a suitable guideway in a bracket 77 secured to and extending laterally of the vertical upright 7 of the supplemental frame. The lower face of the spheroidal head 74 rests upon a collar 78 which is loosely mounted upon the rod 76 and is engaged by the upper end of a bodily movable helical spring 79 which surrounds the rod 76 and rests at its lower end upon a cross-head 80 which is secured to the rod by a pin 81. The cross-head 80 is supported by a helical spring 82 which desirably is relatively stifl'er than the spring 79 and which is seated at its lower end upon a suitable abutment, such as a collar 83 which rests upon the bracket 77. A washer or collar 84 rests upon the upper surface of the spheroidal head and is adapted to be engaged by a nut 85 adjustably mounted upon the screw threaded upper end portion of the rod 76 and secure in position by a suitable lock nut. A pair of links 86 are pivotally con The operation of the braking mechanism as follows: The stiff spring 82 and relaconis tively light spring 79 act normally jointly to lift upon the spheroidal head 74 of the lever thereby actuating the lever 70 and the complementary bell crank lever to apply the brake bands to the brake drum. During the winding-up movement of the driving shaft the brake is thus firmly ap-* plied to the drum so that when the windingup rotation of the driving shaft ceases at any point in the raising of the load supporting means a slight reverse movement of the driving shaft will immediately cause the engagement of the clutch shoes 51, 52 and 53 with the drum and as the brake drum is prevented from rotation will immediately prevent the counter-clockwise rotation of the. drum and the lowering of the load. When, however, it is desired to permit the load supporting means, either loaded or unloaded, to descend by gravity the crank is removed from the driving shaft and is applied to the nonclrcular end 91 of the shaft 90. This shaft is" then rotated manually slightly in a counter-clockwise direction, thereb causin the lever 88 to depress the links 8 and the cross-head 80 thus compressing the stiffer sprin which constitutes a resillent support for the bodily movable lighter spring 79. This compressing of the spring 82 permits 'the bodily movable spring 79 to expand thereby decreasing its effective force upon the end of the lever 70 thus permitting the lever 70 gradually to release the brake bands from the drum and thereby permitting counter-clockwise rotation of the brake drum and with it the driving shaft, the winding drumgear 34 and the winding drum so that the load is permitted gradually to descend. If at any time the operator releases the pres sure upon the supporting spring 82 it immediately expands thereby again imposing its stress upon the bodily movable spring and in turn causing that spring to actuate the lever 70 and bell crank lever again to apply the brake so that the release by the operator of pressure upon the supporting spring will cause the brake again to be applied and the descent of the load supporting means promptly arrested.

By reason of the construction thus illustrated and described the hoisting mechanism is rendered substantially fool-proof. During the winding-up tiperation the careless or the crank by the oper-- that the load cannot drop, nor can there be any such strain placed u on theparts of the mechanism even when a eavy load is being lifted as to fracture any member o f,the mech-- anism.

When the load is permitted to descend the operator is required at all times to maintain a pressure upon the spring 82 which su ports the brake actuatin spring 86 for i such pressure is relieve the spring 82 immediately expands thereby increasing its stress upon the spring 86 in such a manner as to apply the brake to arrest the descent of the load. Obviously the pressure applied to the spring 86 through the crank and lever 88 may be varied in accordance with the rapidity at which it is desired to lower the load and perfect and accurate control of the load 'may, therefore, be maintained.

- y suitable form of crank may be employed either for actuating the driving shaft or the shaft 90 which controls the brake releasing mechanism, or both. Desirably a relatively long crank is utilized for actuating the driving shaft to enable the maximum amount of power to be applied thereto with relatively little eflfort. The actuation of the brake releasing means, relatively little power and if the same crank or cranks having equal ievera e 'were applied to the brake releasing sliaft 90 too however, requires great a compression might be imposed upon the supporting spring 82. A special crank, therefore, has been provided which is illustrated in Fig. 4. The crank 40 as illustrated is provided at one end with an hexagonal soc et 92 which is adapted'to fit upon the end 39 of the driving shaft 28 and an intermediate socket 93 is provided which preferably is of slightly smaller size and is adapted to fit upon the hexagonal end 91 of the brake releasing shaft 90. By making the socket 93 somewhat smaller than the socket 92 the full leverage of the crank cannot be applied to actuate the brake releasing shaft so that the operator will be required to exert considerable force when the crank is applied to this shaft to cause the brake releasing movement of the mechanism and will not be likely to exert such force as to unreasonably compress the supporting spring Havin thus described the invention, what is c aimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. Wmding'drum actuating-and controlling mechanism comprising a drivmg shaft, operable to rotate the winding drum, braking mechanism, a clutch member frictionally engaging and co-operating with said braking mechanism connecting said shaft to said clutch member, means operable by the winding-up rotation of said drivin shaft to permit free rotation of said driving shaft and operable upon reverse movement of said driving shaft in conjunction with the frictional engagement of said clutch member with said braking mechanism effectively to connect said driving shaft to said braking mechanism and brake controlling means operable to regulate the unwinding rotation of said driving shaft.

2. Winding drum actuating and controlling mechanism comprising a driving shaft operable to rotate the winding drum, a brake drum rotatably mounted upon said shaft, a brake co-operating with said brake drum, an expansible clutch member frictionally engaging said drum, means connecting said clutch member to said shaft operable upon winding-up rotation of said driving shaft to permit free rotation of said shaft and operable upon unwinding rotation of said driving shaft in conjunction with said frictional engagement to expand said frictional clutch member with progressively increasing force into engagement with said brake drum and means operable to regulate the unwinding rotation of said driving shaft.

3. Winding drum actuating and controlling mechanism comprising a driving shaft, means operable thereby to rotate the winding drum, a brake drum rotatably mounted upon said shaft, a brake co-operating with the outer surface of said brake drum, a nonresilient sectional clutch member frictionally engaging the inner face of said drum and means connected to said driving shaft and to said frictional clutch member operable upon winding-up rotation of said driving shaft to contract said clutch member thereby ermitting free rotation of said driving sfiaft and also operable upon reverse rotation of said driving shaft in conjunction with said frictional engagement to expand said frictional clutch member into effective engagement with said brake drum with progressively increasing force and brake controlling means operable to re late the unwinding rotation of said driving shaft.

4. Winding drum actuating and controllin mechanism comprisin a driving shaft an means operable there y to rotate said winding drum, a brake drum rotatably mounted upon said shaft, a brake co-operating withithe outer surface of said brake drum, a plurality of pivotally connected clutch shoes cooperating with the inner face of said drum and means including a toggle connected to said driving shaft and to said clutch shoes operable upon winding-up rotation of said driving shaft to contract said toggle thereby releasing the shoes from engagement with the drum and permitting free ing the stress applied by said resilient sup-- port to said spring.

6. Brake controlling mechanism for hoisting machines and the like comprising a rotatable member, a brake co-operating there- With, a brake actuating lever, a spring having one end en aging said brake lever and tending normal y to apply said brake, a resilient support for said spring and movable means intermediate of said spring and its resilient support operable to decrease the effective action of said spring upon said brake actuating lever.

7. Braking mechanism for hoisting machines and the like comprising a rotatable brake drum, a co-operating brake band, a brake lever connected to said band, a bodily movable spring acting upon said brake lever tendin normally to apply said brake band to sai drum, a relatively stiff sprin supporting said bodily movable spring an manually operable means for compressing said SlPPOltlIlg spring operable to decrease the e ective action of said bodily movable spring upon said brake lever.

8. Braking mechanism for hoisting machines and the like comprising a rotatable brake drum, a brake band, a brake lever connected to said brake band, a guide rod extendin through the end portion of'said lever, co lars on said guide rod engaging opposite faces of said lever, a helical spring surrounding said guide rod engaging one of said collars and acting therethrough normally to apply the brake band to the drum,

a cross-head reciprocably mounted upon said guide rod engaging the other end of said spring, a relatively stiff spiral spring surrounding said said cross-hea and at its ot er end a staide rod enga 'ng at one end' tionary abutment and means including a lighter spring upon the brake lever will be decrease 9. In a hoistin machine comprising a winding drum, a riving shaft, and means operable thereb to rotate said winding drum, a brake rum rotatably mounted on said shaft, a brake co-operating with the outer surface of said brake drum, an exansible frictional clutch member oo-o eratmg with the inner surface of said rake drum, means connected to said driving shaft and to said frictional clutch member rable upon winding-up rotation of said riving shaft to contract said frictional clutch mem- 1 her, thereby permitting free rotation of said ,said brake lever tending rotation of said-shaft to expandsaid frictional clutch member into engagement with said brake drum, a brake lever connected to said brake band, a spring acting upon said brake band to sald drum, a resilient support for said spring and manually 0 erable means for compressing said resilient support operable to decrease the eifective action of said sprin upon said brake lever.

' In testimony w ereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

FREDERICK J. SHEPARD, JR. NATHANIEL WARSHAW.

normally 'to apply. 

